Review: Flying Monkeys' Confederation Amber Ale

I was in Ottawa the week before Canada Day and was able to check out an LCBO for the very first time - the fancy Bank Street LCBO a block and a half-ish from TD Place where the Ottawa RedBlacks play. It was definitely a nice liquor store. The staff was friendly and giving us deeeeecent samples from the growler station from proper glassware (compared to the .5oz samples in plastic cups in Manitoba - which.. for MB I think is fine). They also had a massive fridge where the majority of their beer was stored. On a hot day in June, it was sure nice... but I wasn't impressed with the selection. 3/4 of the beer I saw in the fridge were either beers I've tried before or beers I know I'll be trying soon in the future. In the case of four Manitoba coast-to-coaster beers, I was right - including this beer.

Flying Monkeys'Confederation Amber Ale was available at the LCBO, I like Flying Monkeys but I couldn't justify buying it with the gut feeling that it would be available in Manitoba days later.. and here I am now: I bought this at a local Manitoba Liquor Mart, a month and a bit after Confederation Day.

Appearance: Confederation pours a clearish amber honey brown with a light amount of carbonation and a decent amount of frothy beige head to begin with, but near bare by the time I'm reviewing this.. there's just a bit of froth on the side of the glass with a few bubbles here and there on the top now.

Aroma: Notes of caramel is the frontrunner right at the beginning, some sweet bready aroma - the kind of bread you would use for making cinnamon buns, a hint of honey and that's a bout it.

Taste: This is your standard Amber Ale, nothing special about it, but if you enjoy standard Ambers, you'll definitely enjoy this. This is a moderately bready/biscuity beer with a sweet caramel body to it, a light amount of grassiness for hop presence, a hint of nuttiness in there somewhere, easy to drink.

Overall Thoughts: Not impressed by this beer, but if you like Sleeman or Big Rock, you'll definitely enjoy this beer. It's easy to drink, only 5% and not pushing any hoppy bitterness to it. Meh. 5.0% ABV.

Cody Lobreau

Welcome to BeerCrank.ca! I'm a bit obsessed about craft beer, especially Canadian craft beer so I mainly review Canadian beer but I love to try beer from all over the world as well. My goal is to help influence the casual beer drinker to go out and expand their beer palate one way or another. Feel free to send some feedback!
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